The path of a fourth-generation proprietress who was told to "follow the path of your choice

Natsuko Kudo was 30 years old when she decided to retire from a bank in Sapporo, where she had worked for eight years, and take over her family's ryokan.
The onsen ryokan Yano was founded during the war by Natsuko's great-grandmother, who was born into the Yano family in Fukushima-machi. Her daughter, Masako Yano, started the ryokan in the neighboring town of Matsumae in 1951 as a kind of goodwill transfer. Later, Natsuko's mother, Saeko, took over as proprietress, making her the third generation.
Natsuko has been coming and going from the inn since she was a child, helping to spread the cushions for banquets and watching her grandmother warm the hot sake for the guests, but she confides, "She never once asked me to take over the inn.

Rather, she was sent to a junior and senior high school with a boarding house in Sapporo after graduating from elementary school so that she could live anywhere and do any kind of work. (Laughs.) My mother also seemed to have been told by my grandmother to "follow the path of your choice," and she told me the same thing. So when I told my parents that I wanted to return to my hometown at the age of 30 because I wanted to take a new path, they were both surprised.

Yano Onsen Ryokan has been welcoming guests with its local cuisine and natural hot springs for 70 years in Matsumae Town, Hokkaido's only castle town.

Even though it was her parents' home, she had to be prepared and ready for the job of proprietress. Told by her mother that she should be able to immediately take over for her staff in the event of any problems, Natsuko obtained a large bus license and a cooking license so that she could drive a microbus to and from the inn.
She also received an apprenticeship at a ryokan run by Tsuruga Resort through the goodwill of a colleague, and experienced all aspects of the job, including answering the door, cleaning the windows, and preparing breakfast.

After work, we all go out for a drink. When everyone sees our yakata with lights on in every room, they say, "What do you think, we have a full house, don't we?" They would be proud of themselves. Seeing that, I thought to myself, "Ah, I want to make a yakata full of staff who are proud of themselves like that," and I was taught the most important part of being a proprietress. I am truly grateful to Mr. Masayuki Onishi, the president of Tsuruga, for accepting me, even though I did not know what was right and what was left.

I want my employees to work here for a long time, so I made a drastic change in the work environment!

The people who supported Natsuko's "young landlady's return" were the employees who have known her since she was a child. The employees who supported the "return of the young landlady" were all employees whom Natsuko has known since she was a child. The youngest is in her 30s and the oldest is 76 (!), all of whom are well acquainted with each other.

Natsuko thinks, "I hope that the company will continue to operate as it is for a long time. Natsuko hopes that the employees will continue to work at Yano until they are satisfied with their work. That is why she decided to review the work environment.
In the ryokan business, there is a working style called "mid-shift break," in which workers take a break between shifts throughout the day, but this does not allow them to rest their bodies. So, right after I came back, we changed to a three-shift system: early shift, middle shift, and late shift. In my mother's time, the bath cleaners were also in charge of laundry, but the work of drying the clothes was quite hard work. We decided to separate the responsibilities. Our company's strength has always been that one employee can be in charge of multiple tasks. This helped us a lot with the Corona Disaster.

The change from room service to a separate dining room was also a bold move for a long-established ryokan.
The dining room is often thought of as a room dining room, but in fact, the quality of service is higher when hot food is delivered to each room and guests can order additional beverages in a different time frame," he says.

Plans that include "seafood and local cuisine" (depending on the season) such as Matsumae tuna, sea urchin, abalone, and whale, a local delicacy, are also popular.

Natsuko is committed to creating a comfortable place for both customers and the nearly 30 employees. Natsuko's efforts have been so successful that not a single person has retired from Yano, even in the face of the Corona disaster after 2020, a time of endurance for the tourism industry.

Natsuko's words, "I think we were able to survive until today because of the members we have now," may well represent the feelings of all those involved.

A Japanese-style room with a view of Matsumae Castle. In spring, the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, and in winter, the castle is covered with snow, providing an emotional view of the castle.

Converting a tangible cultural property storehouse into a café and a storyteller of Matsumae history.

There is no JR station in Matsumae, and the inn is less than a two-hour drive from Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station. By public transportation, it takes about one and a half hours from Kikonai Station to the inn by Hakodate bus.
Even though Matsumae is not a place that can be visited "just for the heck of it," we are happy to have visitors who still want to come. We want to provide satisfaction that exceeds the expectations of our guests who still want to come to Matsumae. Ryokan are meant to flourish together with the town," says Natsuko.

As if to encourage this correlation between the town and the ryokan, a new restaurant under Yano's direct management will open in July 2022: "Imise sakura," a café in a renovated 190-year-old storehouse.

The name "Imise Sakura" was inspired by the question, "What was the name of a place to eat rice in the Edo period (1603-1867)? The name "Imise sakura" was decided upon by combining the words "kura" and "sakura" of Matsumae.

The building is the Matsumoto family storehouse, a tangible cultural property of Matsumae Town owned by Onsen Ryokan Yano, and records show that it was built in 1831.
The Matsumoto family has been the boatman of the "Choja-maru," a ship owned by the Matsumae Clan and used to sail between Hokkaido and Honshu on the Kitamae-bune, which sailed around the Sea of Japan during the Edo and Meiji periods.
Inside the storehouse, there are historical documents related to the Choshamaru, as well as vessels, sliding doors, hanging scrolls, and other items that tell the story of the lifestyle and culture of the time. For this renovation, under the supervision of a local curator, it was decided to unveil these valuable historical documents as part of the interior after repairing them.

The building is a valuable cultural asset that will only decay if it is left unattended. By using the entire building as a museum to tell the story of Matsumae's history, we have transformed it into a space where visitors can get a real sense of the town's history.

The reborn "Imise Chagura sakura" despite various restrictions related to its status as a tangible cultural property.

The "taste change" of pouring soy milk on top of the food is very popular! Roast beef bowl with fresh soy milk

Rare cheese parfait with soy milk. We always use tofu or soy milk made from local soybeans in our dishes.

Magu-jo" women connected by the Hokkaido Shinkansen and their ability to plan local projects

The "Tsugaru Kaikyo Tuna Women's Association," or "Magu-jo," a community development group to which Natsuko belongs, began when she attended a seminar on community development sponsored by the Japan Tourism Agency in 2009. The project started when Natsuko and Yasuko Shima, a self-proclaimed "guerrilla" for town revitalization, hit it off.

When the Hokkaido Shinkansen bullet train is scheduled to open in 2016, various movements have started in towns and cities across the Tsugaru Strait, and we want to enliven the towns in a way that is not bound by the framework of the so-called government or existing organizations. I got excited with Mr. Shima and thought that women could do this. Since its formation in 2014, the group has grown to over 90 members.

The activities of Magu-jo, whose members come from a variety of occupations and regions, do not all work on the same project at the same time, but rather the content and timing of the project is decided on a regional basis. No formal organization such as an executive committee is formed in advance, and when it seems possible to "ride together," we do it together. This is a feminine approach to management that emphasizes the "real thing.

The "Magu-Jo" project is characterized by its plans that can be made by those who know the local area and set reasonable business prices, such as a tour to see the famous Tachineputa in Goshogawara City, Aomori Prefecture, not from the outside but from inside the Neperuta, or in my case, a "feudal lord's cooking and guide plan" by the proprietress of the feudal lord's house. The hardware of the Hokkaido Shinkansen connecting Aomori and Hokkaido is connected, and the software of friends who share the same aspirations and concerns is also connected. In fact, this is an amazing thing," Natsuko says proudly.

Mag-jo has received the 24th Aogin Award (in the field of regional contribution) in 2016, the 9th Japan Tourism Agency Commissioner's Commendation in 2017, and the Cabinet Office's "Women's Challenge Award" in 2018. Natsuko Kudo is second from the right in the photo.

The town of Magume is a small town that is generally considered rural. But there is always something in the town that makes people want to go out of their way to visit. It is our role to uncover them. I believe that only by revitalizing the countryside will Japan as a whole become more vibrant, and the true effect of the Hokkaido Shinkansen will be realized.

In March 2022, an expressway will run from the Hakodate Airport Interchange to the Kikonai Interchange, shortening access to the airport to about 30 minutes. I hope this will be a tailwind for us," says Natsuko, who has high hopes for the future.
With the addition of a new base of operations called "Imise Chagura sakura," the "Magu-onna" will now be able to show off her skills.

The "Magu-jo no seikan exposition" event month, which was suspended due to the Corona disaster, will partially resume from November 2022. For details, check the official Magujo website!